


be ready and be brave

by ifimightchime



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Pre-Canon, Threats of Violence, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:02:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27158344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifimightchime/pseuds/ifimightchime
Summary: For once, they've got an enemy that knows what they're doing, and Diego and Klaus end up in a sticky situation.
Kudos: 11





	be ready and be brave

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompts: waking up restrained, pick who dies, kidnapped, held at gunpoint.

For once, they've got an enemy that knows what they're doing. Most of the others could use lessons from these guys, Diego thinks, with what wants to be panic and he's trying to pretend is frustration. Most of them want to take out the heaviest hitters on the team first -- they go for Allison, whose powers nobody's quite sure of but who's known for being able to handle the worst situations, or Luther, who's yet to meet a restraint he couldn't get out of. Or they go for Ben, because he's so often the one hanging back until the end and they figure they'll overpower him first, not realizing they're doing his body's natural defense system a favor by getting his conscience out of the way.

No, they did their homework, and they went for the least-powerful members of the team. The ghosts are great at giving Klaus warning to get out of the way when he's paying attention, but not so helpful if he's already in a bad place. And with Diego's hands tied so tightly and no knives in reach, he's about as screwed.

Great. Two years of nothing but idiots, and now they're finally starting to get a clue.

_Where the fuck is Five already_ , floats through his still-groggy brain, a decade of training and the most familiar escape plan overriding the ones hastily thrown together without their best bet. But, no -- no teleporters left in the house, and even if they know where they are (which they might -- Dad's always been pretty vague about how they'd work out that part of a potential kidnapping, just that he'd take care of that part) they'll still have to get here.

He doesn't even know how long the two of them have been in this room, how much time has passed since the prick in his arm that alerted him to the fact that this was a bigger situation than they'd realized. They could've been drugging them over and over. They could be out of state by now. Fuck, they could be _anywhere_.

The panic rises up again, a harsh line of acid rising in his throat that he swallows back. Bad enough to be caught. He's not gonna be caught and covered in his own puke when they walk back in.

He shifts, and it must be enough to alert Klaus that he's conscious again, because he whispers across the dim space between them. "Diego?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you get out?"

_No_ , he thinks, testing the bonds again -- but he can hear the thin, high tone in Klaus' voice already edging on panic, and Diego doesn't want to tip him over while he's still trying to make a plan. "Maybe. Let me concentrate."

"Okay," Klaus says, and then again, even softer, "okay," like he's convincing himself. There's only a few seconds of silence before he starts again, and Diego's not surprised, but he won't be able to figure it out if he doesn't _shut up_ soon. "I--"

Whatever it is, he doesn't get a chance to continue, because the door opens, flooding the room with light. Diego closes his eyes instinctively, and then kicks himself for it, because he could have gotten a look at whatever was in the other room. He opens his eyes again too late; the door is shutting behind three figures. It's too dim to make out features, but none of them are wearing masks, and that -- that can't be a good sign. That's a thing, right? Most of the people they fight, they're at least trying to hide who they are. If they don't care, that's probably going to end badly for both of them.

Or maybe they're counting on the darkness to hide it for them. Diego can make out Klaus' form but not his face, could only recognize it's him because he's so used to fighting the family in all sorts of weird situations. Maybe they just don't plan on letting them into the light. He can work with that. They know how to fight in the dark.

"So, this is embarrassing," the one in the middle says, his tone gleeful. "We only expected to catch _one_ of you with your guard down. Two of you was too hard to pass up, but--"

Diego rolls his eyes and has to fight not to zone out. He doesn't mind the talkers most of the time, but there's trash talk or threats and then there's straight-up dramatics. He'd rather they just hit him already.

"-- so I guess it's up to you to convince us!" the guy finishes his over-prepared speech. There's barely enough light to see the shape of gesture he makes, his arms spread wide like he's handing over the floor -- and just enough to recognize the outline of a gun in his hand. "Who stays, and who do we let loose?"

There's silence, then, and Diego's thoughts all go stunned silence except for a disbelieving, _really? what kind of bullshit?_ before warping into overdrive. He knows what he should do, what Dad would say. If one of them is lost in this fight, it's going to do a lot more for the Academy if Diego gets out of here. If he gets out, he's got a better chance at getting help for Klaus in time. And if 'letting lose' actually means leading one of them outside and shooting him in the head, Diego's got a much better chance of catching them off-guard and getting away.

It should be him. It should be him, because it's the best chance at both of them getting out and the best for the Academy if only one of them does. It should be him, but he thinks about being led out of this room with his brother still tied up behind him--

"Well, boys?"

"Keep me," Diego says, fast, because he knows he only has a second before Klaus' brain kicks back into gear and he starts talking. "It's gotta be me. You want to, what -- screw things up for the Umbrella Academy? Put them down a member so they're easier to beat? So it's me. Cause it's not going to make a difference if it's him."

He can hear the sound Klaus makes next to him, and even if he knows what Diego's doing, he's hoping hearing his own bitter words come out as fact will throw Klaus off enough that he doesn't get a chance to start his argument. If Klaus starts talking, it's over. Diego's better in a fight, but if one of them's going to be better at talking these guys into circles and getting them to do what they want, it's Klaus, or maybe he'll just piss them off until they decide to take it out on him, and either way -- Diego has to get there first. Even if it means having to play dirty to try and quiet him.

The guy who talks moves closer, crouching down in front of him like he's trying to look him in the eyes. It's all fucking theatrics, because they can barely see each other's faces even this close. Just a lot of drama, he tells himself. Enough drama that he probably would let one of them go stumbling out of here, just to make it all a little more intense for everyone. He can beat that, he's sure of it -- he just has to make sure he's the one facing them alone.

"And if we're not? What if we just want to know who's going to be more fun to keep?"

Diego lifts his chin a little bit, looking into the dark space where the guy's face is, and doesn't let himself dwell on what kind of fun they want to have. "Still me." He twists his mouth into a little smirk, tilting his head towards Klaus. "He passes out pretty fast." Lies. The only person who lasted longer in any of their interrogation and torture practices was Five. But it sounds good enough to his own ears, and Diego's not sure he can get any more words out before his voice starts to shake anyway, so it'll have to be enough.

He can hear Klaus inhale next to him and no, no, not yet -- and then the guy laughs, standing up. "Okay. You're convincing." He trains the gun on Klaus, and for a second Diego is sure that he went about this all wrong, that they're going to shoot him right here and neither of them are going to get any kind of a chance. Then he nods at one of the quiet ones. "Get him walking and get him out of here."

"Don't," Klaus says, finally finding his words, and Diego swallows.

"Good choice," he says, ignoring Klaus entirely and hoping he understands.

They lead Klaus out, stumbling and trying to look back, and Diego squints into the light, trying to see what's out there, but it's all white hallway and there's nothing to see. The door clicks closed, leaving Diego alone to hope he did the right thing, and wonder if he'll ever even get the chance to find out.

_Come on, Dad. Please. Hurry up._


End file.
